letsrecycle.com

RWM 2013 round-up

The Resource and Waste Management Show (RWM) 2013 provided waste industry representatives a chance to network and keep abreast of the latest innovations and developments from across the sector.

Industry representatives gathered to hear about the latest waste innovations
Industry representatives gathered to hear about the latest waste innovations
Organisers say that over 13,000 visitors were in attendance at the NEC in Birmingham across the three days (September 10-12).

Commenting on the 2013 event Steve Lee, chief executive the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) one of RWMs partner organisation – said: Once again, the waste and resource management industry came together at the NEC to do business, gain insight into key trends and issues from a wealth of expert commentators, and network with colleagues and contacts.

Letsrecycle.com rounds up some of the developments on show at this years exhibition.

Dennis Eagle meets Euro 6 standards

Dennis Eagle rolled out its Elite 6 model at RWM 2013, an addition the refuse collection vehicle manufacturer hoped would offer visitors a sensory experience.

In its drive to meet Euro 6, a standard whereby all heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) registering on or after December 31 2013 must be fitted with a Euro 6 engine, the company has spent 4.5 million developing its new fleet, with 50 orders in the pipeline so far.

The Elite 6 includes include LED lights for enhanced driver visibility, improved acoustic performance, greater in-cab comfort and safety, and reduced CO emissions. While not mandatory, the vehicle also features sensors to identify the proximity of pedestrians and cyclists.

Developed with Volvo, the Euro 6 engine is 4-5% more fuel efficient than its predecessor Euro 5, a difference Dennis Eagle intends to put to the test when trial collections are carried out in the coming weeks.

General sales manager Mick Friend said: All in all, we believe the new Elite 6 chassis will deliver a greatly enhanced experience for operators, with even greater levels of safety and comfort. The new model is now in production, and weve already got a healthy order book. Were confident that the Elite 6 will continue to be a firm favourite with our customers.

CeDo unveils new bag at RWM

Disposable product manufacturer CeDo showcased a game changing black bin liner at this years RWM show, part-manufactured from previously unrecyclable material of the household waste stream.

CeDo's new 'Household Waste - Saved from Landill' range
CeDo’s new ‘Household Waste – Saved from Landill’ range

The bag, part of the Household Waste Saved from Landfill range, has been touted by the company as a Made in Britain success story, as the bin liner is 30% composed of UK plastics film domestic recyclate, a figure CeDo hopes to treble within two years.

An estimated five years in the making, the black bag uses dry cycling technology in order to separate and recycle the household waste stream. Unlike other bin liners which collect industrial or farm films as the primary feedstock, CeDo uses mixed plastics film waste.

As with its past products, CeDo hopes its range will achieve fully traceable and quality assured systems, while contributing to the UKs drive for closed-loop solutions.

SAICA Natur improves UK retail recycling

SAICA Natur hosted two thought leader panels at the RWMs C&I Theatre this year, highlighting the savings retailers can make by adopting zero waste operations.

Taking place on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 September, the talks included speakers from Sainsburys, Travis Perkins, Kuhne & Nagel, Mall Cribbs Causeway, and Bristol Airport.

Prior to the talks, SAICA Natur regional director Charles Swainston said: Naturally, some of the larger brands are doing well, and their activities have attracted significant media attention. But we were concerned that this could make other retailers think that change requires a big budget and team which is most definitely not the case.

Aware of the changing face of retail recycling, SAICA Natur previously illustrated how shopping centres could cut the amount of waste sent to landfill and achieve zero waste goals, by transforming the Princes Mead Shopping Centre in Farnborough (see letsrecycle.com story).

Biffa teams up with StreetLink and CIWM

This years RWM saw waste contractor Biffa partner with the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management (CIWM) and StreetLink, a service which allows the public to connect rough sleepers to local services, to promote the issue of homeless people sleeping in bins.

Drivers, who last year reported one fatality 20 incidents of finding individuals in bins, are trained by Biffa to check waste containers of their 60,000 commercial customers.

The contractor also hosted a press conference at the NEC show to launch a new piece of research, working with CIWM to determine how many people are found sleeping in bins each year, as well as where they are located and in what type of bins.

Tim Standring, Biffas divisional safety, health, environment and quality coach said: The aim of the joint communications campaign with StreetLink is three-fold. We are seeking to raise awareness of the issue; highlight the dangers amongst rough sleepers of seeking shelter in bins; and to encourage waste management workers and their customers to contact StreetLink if they are concerned about someone sleeping rough.

Think EfW operation systems, says Siemens

The message from Siemens, an international business with strong operational systems knowledge for energy from waste plants, was that local authorities and contractors needed to also focus on delivering the plants in operational terms, as well as worrying about planning, feedstock and finance.

Siemens provided a control system for the Shetland Islands waste from energy plant
Siemens provided a control system for the Shetland Islands waste from energy plant

George Giles, the companys head of renewable power for UK and Ireland, told letsrecycle.com that Siemens could be “a trusted provider in terms of power generation, delivering large scale projects. We have a very long history and presence. The focus in the UK energy from waste sector, from large plants through to smaller AD facilities has been all about planning, feedstock and finance.”

He continued: “There has not been enough conversation about delivering the plants. We try and say if you listen to us, we will help ask the right questions of the operator.”

Recent work by Siemens has included providing a new distributed control system for the Shetlands Islands waste-to-energy plant following a tender process. The process control system for the Global Resources Leyland plant is also based upon a number of Siemens systems.

APP preparing ETI prototype proposal

The important role that gasification processes could play in delivering energy from waste facilities in the future was emphasised by Rolf Stein, chief executive of Swindon-based Advanced Plasma Power.

The company, he explained, is currently focusing a lot of its activity on a bid to develop a prototype facility for the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) which is running a competition process for funding for a demonstration facility in the UK. Mr Stein added that the company has secured an existing waste management site for the plant in the West Midlands and was soon to submit a planning amendment for the plant.

The APP-led consortium will design a demonstration facility with an electrical output of 6MWe. APPs Gasplasma technology will be used to produce a clean syngas as a fuel for the development and demonstration of high-efficiency power generation solutions. The Gasplasma process uses a separate plasma furnace to crack and clean the crude syngas from a gasifier prior to its direct utilisation in gas engines or a gas turbine.

Mr Stein added that the company has received interest in the process “from all over the world” and that a demonstration facility in the UK would lead to “enablement of commercialisation”.

Simply Waste and MOBA join forces at RWM

Teaming up together at this years show, Simply Waste Solutions and MOBA Mobile Automation introduced their on-board weighing and bin identification system, which is currently available in the European market.

The MOBA system will be able to identify overflowing bins
The MOBA system will be able to identify overflowing bins

The partnership formed after Simply Waste, following a procurement search, was convinced by MOBAs vibrating-wire technology in which weighing sensors convert force into electrical signal.

The system will identify overflowing bins to help their customers control the waste they present for collection.

Simply Waste managing director James Capel said: This new investment in technology will provide our customers with even greater transparency on the waste they generate, which in turn could help them to reduce the volume of waste they produce and aid them to recycle more.

Ian Lewis, MOBA UK general manager, added: For many reasons, the UK has, so far, been slow to take up bin weighing technology but there is now a new breed of progressive waste management companies, like Simply Waste, who see great benefits in adopting our proven technology to help them improve their waste collection and recycling efficiencies.

Share this article with others

Subscribe for free

Subscribe to receive our newsletters and to leave comments.

Back to top

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest waste and recycling news straight to your inbox.

Subscribe